Beneath Gray Skies (48 page)

“If these are diamonds, I’ll eat my hat,” said Brian. “Pass them over, will you? Cheap glass,” he pronounced, after a few seconds’ examination. “What else is in there?”

“Nothing,” said Vickers miserably. “Nothing else in the bag,” he turned it inside out, “and nothing in the crate. And Sergeant, just make sure there’s nothing left in that box.”

“Nothing, sir,” reported David. “Any false bottoms or secret compartments?” he suggested.

“There’s a thought,” agreed Brian. A few minutes’ probing and determined work with axes and crowbars on the box determined that there was nothing of the kind. “No other boxes?” he suggested. There were none.

“No-one’s been here before us?” suggested Vickers.

“No, of course not,” said Brian. “Look how we had to work to get the box out. And there were no footprints in the yellow powder. No, I’m afraid that string of cheap glass beads in your pocket is what the
Bismarck
brought over for you. So much for Nazi promises.”

The three turned and started walking back towards the barracks.

“I’m sure Eckener was on the level when he gave me this key yesterday and told me how to find the treasure,” said Vickers. “He’s given up everything for this, you know. After all this, who’s going to want to fly in an airship now after the reports of this go round the world? Do you know how many reporters were there taking photos of all this? It will be the death of the Zeppelin company and all that Eckener’s lived for over so many years.”

“I don’t think so,” said Brian. “After all, how many airships have ever had all the crew jump out to leave a flying
Marie Celeste
which then gets shot at by rockets?”

“I agree that the circumstances are not what most passengers can expect on a routine flight. Maybe Hugo Eckener can go back to his Zeppelins. But what are we going to do?” asked Vickers.

“Excuse me, sir, but who is ‘we’?” asked David. He was pretty certain, but he wanted to make sure.

“Captain Finch-Malloy’s told you. The people you met in Richmond a few hours ago are the new government of the Confederacy. We want to make some changes to the way people live here, and the treasure that was meant to be in here was going to help us make those changes.”

“Oh, I see, sir. Are you really going to free the darkies, sir? One of the Germans on the airship suggested that might be one of the things a new government might do.”

“That’s one of the things we want to do,” answered Vickers slowly. “Do you have any objections to that, Sergeant?”

“I’ve been thinking about that sort of thing, sir, ever since yesterday. No, I don’t, I suppose. As long as you can give some money to their owners to make up for things, otherwise it ain’t rightly fair, is it? Oh, I see,” as it hit him. “That’s why you want this treasure, isn’t it?”

“Well done, Sergeant. That’s a whole set of right answers all together.”

“But did President Davis have to die? Him and all those other folks?” asked David.

“President Davis wasn’t going to give up being President just because we asked him to,” said Vickers. “And you saw for yourself how bad those Nazis were, didn’t you?”

David nodded. “But still, was it right to kill all those folks?” he persisted.

“That, David, is a question I am not going to try to answer,” replied Brian. “Some folks would say it was, and some would say it wasn’t. As for me, I know I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of my life.”

“And me,” said Vickers. “I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, but not the way I’ve done it, if you want to be philosophical about it, which I don’t. I have a more urgent problem, like taking over the country, if I can remind you, Captain. And the money I was expecting to do it isn’t here.”

“Ah,” said Brian. He seemed lost in thought as they walked on in silence. “I would say you have a problem, Colonel.”

“Damn’ right I have a problem,” growled Vickers. “How do I go about conjuring money from thin air?”

Brian stopped dead in his tracks “I have an idea, and I warn you, you’re not going to like this an awful lot,” said Brian, “but here’s my idea. You and your people go to the British Legation in Richmond.” He proceeded to explain the rest of his plan.

“
Gentlemen, please take your glasses. I give you the Confederate Dominion of America.”

“
S
ince this is an extraordinary event,” explained the Prime Minister to the assembled Cabinet, “I decided that we would be briefed on this occasion by a truly extra-ordinary person. As you know, this man does not exist, neither does his organization.” There was an appreciative ripple of laughter.

“Officially he does not exist, that is. In practice, as many of us have come to know, he and his little band have saved our bacon on more than one occasion, and have pulled us out of the soup often enough. In fact, to continue our culinary metaphors,” (more appreciative laughter) “we would be in a pretty pickle were it not for the man we know as C, and the men and women who make up the Service he heads. C, will you please tell us about the recent events, based on your knowledge and understanding. I would remind all you gentlemen that what you are about to be told is highly confidential and under no circumstances is to leave this room. C, please.”

“Thank you, Prime Minister.” Rising from his seat at the end of the Cabinet table, C addressed the assembled Cabinet. “The recent events in the Confederate States of America and in Germany deserve a little more explanation, I feel, but as the Prime Minister has said, these explanations are for your ears only. Suitable public explanations will be forthcoming.” He coughed.

“To begin, gentlemen, I should point out that, as you were all well aware, there were more than a few political points in common between the former Nazi government of Germany, and President Davis’s government of the Confederacy. Indeed, as some of you already know, Confederacy troops were sent from America to Germany to aid Herr Hitler in his coup. Despite the efforts of our agents, one of whom was actually serving in one of the Confederate regiments dispatched to Berlin,” a ripple of excitement greeted this announcement, which seemed to be news to almost all seated around the table, “we were unable to prevent the Nazis from seizing power.”

“One or two of you gentlemen have been informed,” C continued, “of the existence of the liaison headed by ourselves and working with the Americans in Washington DC with regard to these problems. This joint operation was agreed to with enthusiasm by both parties when we originally proposed it. The Americans turned out to be extremely generous in providing facilities and funding, and were keen to use our expertise, which, I am justifiably proud to report, is considerably in advance of theirs, in almost every regard.”

“Do you consider we received value for money in this exchange?” The question came, maybe predictably, from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“Indeed I do, sir. The cost of our working alone to set up such a complex operation, involving well over twenty agents in the field, and an equivalent number of backroom staff, not to mention the difficulty of doing such a thing in Washington, would almost certainly have ruled such an operation out of court otherwise. We are all extremely grateful to the USA for their cooperation and their active support. Bringing an ally up to a common level of competence is scarcely a hardship, in any event.”

“I see your point,” replied the Chancellor. “Please continue.”

“It swiftly became apparent following the formation of this group that the primary objectives should be firstly to deprive Germany of the products of the oil reserves of the Confederacy, and secondly, to prevent the Confederacy from acquiring German military technology. The weak point, the Achilles heel, if you will, of the whole Confederate/German axis, was identified as the airship link between the two countries.”

“Are you saying that we shot down that damned thing the other day?” came an unidentified voice from the other side of the table.

“No, Minister, I am not saying that at all. Please hear me out. Our experts had concluded that there was no immediate risk of any airships acquired by the Confederacy being used for an offensive war in North America.” Some of his audience raised their eyebrows at this. C noticed, and continued, “One, the airships had too much propaganlarge da value as civilian passenger carriers. Two,” the second finger went up, “despite the Gotha and Zeppelin raids in the last war, we do not consider that such raids against civilian populations win wars. On the contrary, it seems that civilian resolve is actually strengthened by such attacks. Thirdly, although the Confederate Army is very large in terms of numbers, in terms of fighting efficiency, and
matériel
, it is actually not much use as an offensive weapon.”

“Similar to the Tsarist Russian army?” suggested a minister.

“Indeed, sir. A most apt comparison. And we also considered that Germany lacked both the resources and the stomach for a protracted ground war. Lastly, it was difficult for us to see what the Confederacy would gain in the long term from a defeat of the USA.”

“An interesting point,” mused the Chancellor. “You always assume that the aim of enemies is to destroy each other. It may actually simply be to prevent themselves from being destroyed by their opponent.”

“In this case, I am sure that this is the case, sir. The weak link of any joint efforts between the Nazis and the Confederacy was identified as the airship service. This was to be the most heavily publicized aspect of their cooperative efforts, and also one of the most vulnerable. We had planned sabotage of the airship facilities in the Confederacy, but not, I repeat not, of the airship itself, hoping the damage and the propaganda effect, taking on the Nazis at their own game of manipulating public opinion, would be sufficient to wreck good relations between Germany and the Confederacy. We were concentrating our efforts in the Confederacy rather than in Germany on account of the regrettable efficiency of the Nazi secret police. The agent who was going to carry out this work was a British subject, working for the Americans rather than ourselves, for reasons that do not concern us at this time. He was betrayed to the Confederate authorities by an American working in the Washington liaison office.”

“Bloody Yanks!” came another voice. To C’s dismay, there seemed to be a murmur of general agreement with this judgment.

“Gentlemen, please. As I mentioned earlier, the cooperation with our American allies apart from this was excellent. They provided facilities and intelligence that we could not otherwise have acquired. The fact that there was one rotten apple does not mean that we should condemn the whole barrel.”

“An excellent point, C. Thank you. Please continue,” interjected the Prime Minister.

“Thank you, Prime Minister. By good fortune when the captured agent was delivered to the Confederate military authorities, it was to an officer involved in a projected secret coup against the Davis administration. The members of this junta planned, if their efforts were successful, to emancipate the slaves, restore greater democracy to the nation, open the Confederacy to outside influences, and reduce the military influence on Confederate society. There was also a strong element of anti-Nazi feeling among the members. The captured agent decided to throw in his lot with the rebels.”

“He was joined in this,” C went on, taking a sip of water, “by an anti-Nazi German officer who saw the chance to kill two birds with one stone by destroying the airship with the Nazis and the Confederate Cabinet on board.”

“Bloody gruesome,” someone commented.

“Indeed so,” agreed C. “A very unpleasant way to die. The captured agent, given his familiarity with Confederate weaponry from his prior service in the Army of the Confederacy—”

“This is the same agent who was in Berlin?”

Annoyed at his slip, C tartly replied, “Yes, it was. His experience, I repeat, led him to be selected as the nemesis of the dirigible. The German officer briefed the crew, through their captain Dr. Hugo Eckener, an outspoken opponent of the Nazis, by wireless. The crew abandoned ship in mid-air, escaping by parachute, and two incendiary rockets made quick work of the
Bismarck
. There were, as you know, no survivors. The Confederate junta seized power in Richmond and the major cities throughout the nation in a virtually bloodless coup. In Germany, as soon as the news came through, which it did in a matter of a few hours, the democratic opposition very quickly crushed the remnants of the Nazi party. By concentrating all power into a few hands, the Nazis, and the Confederates for that matter, had made themselves particularly vulnerable.”

“What is the basis for all the rumors about the treasure pod on the airship?” came a question from the Minister for Education.